The
only thing that will be slimmer after taking certain weight-loss pills
is your wallet, says one crusader who believes untested products are slipping
through the cracks.

Source: LAURA
EGGERTSON,
Special to The Globe and Mail

Tuesday,
June 19, 2001

The
ad seemed to jump out of the pages of Reader's Digest: apple-cider-vinegar
capsules, the "natural" way to lose weight quickly. Just take
one capsule with water an hour before meals and presto, the pounds would
melt away. Fast, too -- within eight days, lose up to 11 pounds.

The
most seductive aspect of the weight-loss plan was its ease. No dieting,
no increased exercise required. All a body had to do, according to Naturalab,
the Toronto-based company listed on the advertising material, was fork
over $32.31 (plus tax) for 100 gelatin-coated capsules that would loosen
those waistbands in record time.

Naturalab
even offered a money-back guarantee, complete with glowing testimonials
from customers the literature said had swallowed their way to a whole
new look.

Who
couldn't afford to lose a few pounds? It's not like a drug; after all,
the capsules are apparently just a concentrated form of the apple-cider
vinegar sold in grocery stores. And the Internet is filled with stories
from people devoted to what was originally branded as a folk remedy cure-all
for everything from arthritis to high blood pressure.

There's
just one problem with the apple-cider-vinegar weight-loss system being
marketed in Canada and the United States, says Ron Reinhold, a Calgary-based
private investigator who operates Rainbow Investigations.

There
has been no scientific evidence put forward to prove the capsules actually
work, says Mr. Reinhold, who is also a former Health Canada drug inspector.
And yet, he adds, companies can sell these and other weight-loss products,
without proving their claims, because of a temporary void in Canada's
regulatory system.

Under
the existing Food and Drug Act, Health Canada has the responsibility to
regulate all products making therapeutic claims -- including promises
that taking these supplements will result in the loss of a particular
number of pounds. Such products are required to apply to the federal government
for a drug-identification number.

To
get a drug-identification number -- known as a DIN -- companies have to
submit studies attesting to the safety and efficacy of their product.
If Health Canada approves it, the drug is issued a DIN. Naturalab's apple-cider-vinegar
capsules have not been issued a DIN, said Micheline Ho, manager of Health
Canada's product-information division. That means no federal regulator
in Canada has reviewed their safety, or whether they actually work.

Health
Canada is currently undergoing a reorganization that will result in an
Office of Natural Health Products. That office will take over the regulation
of products such as the "natural" weight-loss pills. The regulations
governing the new office have not yet been passed, so it will not be up
and running until early next year, says Ms. Ho.

In
the meantime, Ms. Ho acknowledges that no one at Health Canada is looking
at these products unless there is evidence they are a danger to public
health. "It's difficult to be very strict about enforcing the current
rules . . . [because] they may change," says Ms. Ho.

But
it's a safe bet, say health professionals, that any product that claims
to promote weight loss without a change in the number of calories consumed
or burned won't work -- especially over the long term. "You still
should have a reduced-calorie diet and preferably also an exercise program,"
says Ms. Ho.

Mr.
Reinhold has been investigating Naturalab's apple-cider-vinegar weight-loss
system and similar "natural" weight-loss products for more than
a year as part of a personal crusade. He's upset that people who are desperate
to lose weight could be throwing away their money on products that don't
work.

Although
most of his other cases involve personal injury, divorce or background
checks, the private investigator maintains an interest in health issues
that stems from his background as a drug inspector with Health Canada's
Vancouver regional office from 1990 to 1999, he says. "It bothers
me, so I just do that out of personal interest," he adds.

So,
when Mr. Reinhold saw full-page ads that ran in The Calgary Sun last summer,
his alarm bells rang. Those newspaper ads were for two different products:
the Hollywood Weekend TurboDiet weight-loss plan, and Plant Macerat, a
concoction of 16 plants touted as a slimming agent in a heart-rending
testimonial by one Chantal Legrand.

The
weight-loss marketers also placed ads for their products in U.S. magazines
including Parade, a glossy weekend supplement that is inserted in The
Washington Post and many other major U.S. newspapers. Mr. Reinhold traced
them back to one company -- PhytoPharma, which lists as its North American
headquarters an address on Morningside Drive in Toronto, a location that
belongs to a mailbox service. That is the same company, says Mr. Reinhold,
that is also behind Naturalab's apple-cider-vinegar pills.

The
Hollywood Turbo Diet, Naturalab's apple-cider-vinegar capsules and Plant
Macerat are among dozens of "natural" weight-loss pills being
marketed in Canada through advertisements and direct-mail campaigns.

Mr.
Reinhold doubts that any of these products would stand up to scientific
scrutiny. But, at the same time, they are not likely to pose an obvious
"health risk" that might prompt an immediate investigation by
Health Canada.

He
directs consumers to Dr. Stephen Barrett, a U.S. psychiatrist who, in
his retirement, has devoted himself to debunking various medical claims.

Since
posting the results of his investigation into PhytoPharma, Mr. Reinhold
has heard from 60 or 70 people who either wrote away for the products
or were checking them out before buying, he says. He has not heard from
anyone from PhytoPharma. The majority of the people who contacted him
are from the United States -- demonstrating the reach of the Canadian-based
mail-order businesses.

Scott
Toney wrote to Mr. Reinhold after his fiancé, Melinda Mouton, ordered
the Plant Macaret diet system and received only half of the elixir in
the mail. She was also frustrated in her unsuccessful attempts to contact
the distributor or manufacturer.

When
Mr. Reinhold -- and, independently, this writer -- called the toll-free
numbers, they all led to Corporatel, a Saint John call centre that takes
orders and responds to basic questions from customers. Corporatel's customer-service
agents confirmed that PhytoPharma was the name of one of the call centre's
accounts. But they refused to pass on a reporter's questions to the people
behind PhytoPharma, or to provide their names, and could not provide any
details about the testimonials from people quoted in the company's promotional
material. All attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful.

Dr.
Barrett, who is based in Allentown, Pa., debunks questionable weight-loss
programs and other alternative medical treatments on his Web site, http://www.quackwatch.com.
Dr. Barrett checked out both the apple-cider-vinegar and Plant Macerat
claims. The use of apple-cider vinegar has been around for more than 25
years, Dr. Barrett says. "I don't think there's any evidence that
it has any usefulness at all. I don't know of any study that's even tested
it (for weight loss)," Dr. Barrett says.

Similarly,
when he looked at the ingredients of the 16 plants that are supposed to
constitute the Plant Macerat supplement, "there's nothing in it that
would contribute to weight reduction," he says. The ingredients do
include laxatives and a diuretic, which promotes water loss. But as soon
as someone drinks water again, they will regain the weight they lost through
the diuretic, Dr. Barrett says.

"I
don't believe that any product sold through the mail as a weight-control
pill works. I've looked at hundreds and hundreds of advertisements. I've
never found one that could possibly live up to the claims made in the
ads," he says.

Even
total starvation will not produce a weight loss of eight to 10 pounds
a week, as the Macerat diet promises, says Dr. Barrett. "The most
you could possibly lose if you take in 1,000 calories a day -- which is
very unlikely anyone will ever get down that low -- would be something
like five pounds in a week. And that wouldn't be safe," he says.
Safe weight loss is limited to about half a pound or a pound a week, says
Dr. Barrett. "What you really want is not a diet. It's a change of
lifestyle that results in your taking in the same amount of calories to
maintain your weight or a little less to gradually lose. What you need
to change is your whole way of eating."

Despite
the sensible advice that doctors, dieticians and fitness experts regularly
dispense, there are still willing customers for the products that offer
instant gratification without any changes in lifestyle or diet. Mr. Reinhold
warns people who read his Web site, that when it comes to weight-loss
products, "it clearly is buyer beware."

Beware
of magic bullets

The
Hollywood Turbo Diet, Naturalab's apple-cider-vinegar capsules and Plant
Macerat are among dozens of "natural" weight-loss pills being
marketed in Canada through advertisements and direct-mail campaigns. Once
customers try one, their name is passed on to other marketers, and offers
for similar products flood the mailbox. Shortly after ordering a sample
of the apple-cider- vinegar capsules, this reporter received direct-mail
ads for the following products:

Fat
Free claims to be "America's No. 1 Slimming Treatment." The
ads state that it requires no diet or exercise but results in five pounds
of weight loss per week.

Success
are pills which are said to contain garcinia, "a fruit native of
India widely known in the medical field," which would result in the
loss of a pound a day without dieting.

Pectalite
are pills made of apple pectin, which the ads state "eats fat cells
and cholesterol."

Slim
Express is sold as "an amazing little flower that can drive your
body to lose all the excess fat in 15 days."

1-Way
Ogliopeptide is said to be derived from "natural food sources,"
which "tell our digestive system to ignore all the excess fat our
body does not need, and pass it by."

Slim
& Simple is sold as an "all-natural . . . lipid fragmentation
formula" that claims to help you lose up to six pounds a week by
breaking down fat into smaller particles which are said to be easier to
burn.

Dr.
Stephen Barrett, a retired U.S. psychiatrist who now devotes himself to
reviewing alternative medical treatments and mail-order products, casts
doubt on the efficacy of "natural" products such as these.

He
and other health professionals note that there is really only one way
to lose weight naturally: Burn up more calories than you consume. And
that's done by eating less, exercising more -- or a combination of both.